Fw: Letter of Matsumura

[Nathan Ogden]

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Nathan Ogden

To: kar...@raven.cc.ukans.edu

Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 2:29 PM

Subject: Letter of Matsumura

The following is a note written to Ryosei Kuwae Sensei by Sokon Matsumura Sensei on May 13, 1882.  Kuwae Sensei was the last official student of Matsumura Sensei and the scroll (note) is still in existance and in possesion of the Kuwae family.  This document is the only known surviving piece of writing in Matsumura Sensei's own hand.  It is believed that this note was written just prior to Matsumura's retirement from teaching and just before his death.

 

 

 

To Kuwae Ryosei,

 

     I am writing you this note since I feel you should be aware of the meaning of bujutsu.

 

Bun (knowledge) and bu (martial) have the same theory.  There are three main areas in the meaning of bun:

 

The first one is poetry.  Poetry is the knowledge of language, fluent use of the written word and knowledge of a large vocabulary.

 

The second one is admonition. Admonition is to read the ultimate understanding of Buddhism.  Teach other people, but study constantly on your own.  The above two areas cannot be considered as mastered untilo you have gained prestige in them.

 

The final one is based on Confucianism.  It means to know and understand this philosophy deeply, understanding the matters in life; to make the mind pure and true.  Governing the family well, administering the nation well and keeping the world peaceful in the end.  This is the philosophy of truth through the knowledge and understanding of Confucius.

 

Three main things in budo are bujutsu of intelligence, bujutsu of nominals (names or insignifigant ideas) and that of Budo.

 

Bujutsu of intelligence is understanding that styles may vary, but a style is only as good as the one who practices it.  Often, the desire to be superb or excel is scarce.  Many of these styles have exagerated movements that look like dances; it does not work for or in real battle--these dances are similar to those of women.

 

Bujutsu of nominals is a lot of ideas without execution and a lot of talk about winning.  At times it can hurt other people or even your own body. It gives shame to your parents and brothers.

 

Bujutsu of budo is pure concentration causing many unique ideas.  You must deal with your mind well and wait for others to fall apart mentally.  Win the battle by the calmness of your own mind and steal the mind of your opponant.  Acting mature gives incentive to others and causes no undue irritations.  In the area of loyalty, have the power of a tiger and the speed of a bird, which should come naturally.  A master of budo should stay away from violence, deal with people well, and be sure in their accomplishments, keep the peace and increase their wealth.

 

     These are the seven virtues of bu.  Since bu and bun are basicly the same as I mentioned, we do not need bu of nominals or bu of intelligence.  Enrich the bujutsu of budo, adopt to change, and keep training with this note in mind.

 

 

Writing frankly on this occasion,

to brother Kuwae from

Matsumura Sokon - May 13, 1882

 

 

 

 

Submitted for your reading pleasure by:

 

 

Nathan Ogden

[Gordon Smith]

Did anybody tape last night's history channel program on the samurai sword?
My girlfriend caught some of it while I was off practicing iaido, but
unfortunately did not get a chance to record it. I can't find another
broadcast on their website, so I'm just sitting here gnashing my teeth.

-G-
-----------------------------------------
Gordon Smith
National Center for Physical Acoustics
Coliseum Drive
University, MS 38655
sli...@olemiss.edu

[Ulf Undmark]

On Mon, 4 Oct 1999 10:08:34 -0500, Gordon Smith <sli...@OLEMISS.EDU> wrote:

>Did anybody tape last night's history channel program on the samurai sword?

Was that the one they showed earlier this year, also discussing the mongol-
invasion?

Ulf Undmark

[Gordon Smith]

It might be, Haley recalled seeing them compare european swords and
japanese swords, covered how japanese swords are made, and she thinks there
might have been something on invading hordes (though she's not positive on
that one, apparently she only watched a bit of it)